Affection and trust : the personal correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971

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Title:

Affection and trust : the personal correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971

Author:

Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.

ISBN:

9780307593542

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

xv, 343 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

February to December 1953. A new outlet for "the Truman-Acheson front" -- January 1954 to April 1955. Eisenhower's foreign policy ; Musings on history and government ; Truman's memoirs ; A serious operation ; The Truman Library ; Visits in Kansas City and Washington ; Testimony and tough political talk -- June to August 1955. A blunt critique of Truman's memoirs -- August 1955 to September 1956. The Potsdam papers ; "Intellectual prostitutes" ; Margaret is married ; A trip to Europe -- November 1956 to December 1957. Foreign-policy and civil-rights crises ; A meeting in Washington ; More politics ; The "S" -- January 1958 to June 1959. Meetings in New Haven, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C. ; A political season ; A president who doesn't know where he's going ; Three foreign-policy crises ; Truman is "steamed up" ; A grand birthday celebration -- June 1959 to November 1960. A candidate for 1960 ; George Marshall's death ; The U-2 incident.

Sit-down strikes ; A "treaty on 'don'ts'" ; John F. Kennedy and the Democratic Convention ; The campaign -- February 1961 to October 1971. JFK and LBJ ; An operation and a fall ; More memoirs ; Deaths in the family ; The last letter.

Personal Subject:

Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972-Correspondence.

Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971-Correspondence.

Geographic Term:

United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1953 -- Sources.

United States -- Foreign relations -- 1945-1953 -- Sources.

Added Author:

Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971.

McCullough, David G.

Summary:

In this collection, published for the first time, we follow Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, two giants of the post-World War II period, as they move from an official relationship to one of candor, humor, and personal expression. In these letters, spanning the years from when both were newly out of office until Acheson's death at age 78, we find them sharing the often surprising opinions, ideas, and feelings that the strictures of their offices had previously kept them from revealing. They felt a powerful need to keep in touch as they viewed with dismay what they considered to be the Eisenhower administration's fumbling of foreign affairs and the impact of Joseph McCarthy. After Kennedy won in 1960, they discussed Acheson's reluctant involvement in the Cuban missile crisis and the Allied position in Berlin--From publisher description.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	973.918 TRU	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

In this riveting collection, published for the first time, we follow Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, two giants of the post-World War II period, as they move from an official relationship to one of candor, humor, and personal expression. Together they were primarily responsible for the Marshall Plan and NATO, among other world-shaping initiatives. And in these letters, spanning the years from when both were newly out of office until Acheson's death at the age of seventy-eight, we find them sharing the often surprising and always illuminating opinions, ideas, and feelings that the strictures of their offices had previously kept them from revealing.

Adapting easily to their private lives, they nonetheless felt a powerful need to keep in touch as they viewed with dismay what they considered to be the Eisenhower administration's fumbling of foreign affairs, the impact of Joseph McCarthy, John Foster Dulles's foreign policy, and the threat of massive nuclear retaliation. Adlai Stevenson's poor campaign of 1956, Eisenhower's second-term mishaps, family events, speaking engagements, and Truman's difficulties writing his memoirs are all fodder for their conversations. In 1960 their skeptical stance toward John F. Kennedy (and his father's influence) turned them toward Lyndon Johnson. After Kennedy won they discussed Acheson's reluctant involvement in the Cuban missile crisis, his missions to de Gaulle and Prime Minister Macmillan, and the Allied position in Berlin.

Unbuttoned, careless of language, unburdened by political ambition or vanity, Truman and Acheson show their own characters and loyalty to each other on every page. Truman, a Missouri farmer with the unpolished but sharp intellect of the largely self-educated man, clearly understands that in Acheson he has a friend with a rare gift for providing unhesitant and truthful counsel. Acheson, well-educated, urbane, and well-off, understands which traits in Truman's complex character to love and admire and when to admonish, instruct, and tease him. Both men share a deep and abiding patriotism, a quality that truly stands out in today's world.

A remarkable book that brings to light the very human side of two of the most important statesmen of the twentieth century.

Author Notes

Harry S.Truman, 1884- 1972 Harry S.Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, in 1884. He grew up in Independence, and worked for 12 years as a farmer in Missouri. He went to France during World War I as a captain in the Field Artillery. Upon his return from the war, he opened a haberdashery in Kansas City. Truman was elected a judge of the Jackson County Court as a member of the Democratic Party in 1922. He became a Senator in 1934. During World War II he headed the Senate war investigating committee, checking into waste and corruption and saving perhaps as much as 15 billion dollars.

Soon after V-E Day, the war against Japan had reached its final stage. An urgent plea to Japan to surrender was rejected. Truman, after consultations with his advisers, ordered atomic bombs dropped on cities devoted to war work. Two were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A surrender quickly followed. In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the charter of the United Nations, hopefully established to preserve peace.

At this point in his presidential career, Truman presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance. The program became known as the Fair Deal. Dangers and crises marked the foreign field as Truman campaigned successfully in 1948. Truman's most effective leadership was apparent in foreign affairs.

In 1947 as the Soviet Union pressured Turkey and, through guerrillas, threatened to take over Greece, he asked Congress to aid the two countries, enacting the program that bears his name; the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan, named for his Secretary of State, stimulated economic recovery in war-torn western Europe. When the Russians blockaded the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, Truman created a massive airlift to supply Berliners until the Russians backed down. Meanwhile, he was negotiating a military alliance to protect Western nations, called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and established in 1949. In June 1950, the Communist government of North Korea attacked South Korea. A long, discouraging struggle ensued as U.N. forces held a line above the old boundary of South Korea. Truman kept the war a limited one, rather than risk a major conflict with China and perhaps Russia.

Deciding not to run again, he retired to Independence. He died December 26, 1972 at the age of 88.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

A deep affection existed between President Truman, a self-educated Midwesterner and the only 20th-century president who didn't attend college , and his secretary of state, Dean Acheson, a wealthy Ivy league sophisticate. Researching his biography of Truman at the Truman Library, McCullough came across the extensive correspondence that began as both left office. More than 80% of the letters cover Eisenhower's administration. No more prescient than other statesmen, neither Truman nor Acheson doubted the overwhelming threat of communism. Both considered Ike deplorably weak (subsequent historians disagree) and his secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, unnecessarily pugnacious (subsequent historians agree). Both men also sound surprisingly contemporary as they worry about right-wing extremists taking over the Republican Party. Like all letters, these contain gossip about friends and spouses, vacation itineraries, and news of birthdays, holidays, awards, and medical problems. Many readers may skim these parts, but overall they will receive an insightful, if sometimes partial, view of cold war world politics through the eyes of two thoroughly admirable American leaders. 12 illus. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

A revelatory collection of letters, these missives exchanged between a former president and his secretary of state defy simple characterization. They contain political gossip and plans for speeches and for Truman's library and memoirs. Interpersonally, they are infused with mutual esteem expressed in thanks for visits, book recommendations, and commiseration over advancing age's accumulation of ailments and deceased friends. How did two men so opposite as Truman, the Missouri farmer, and Acheson, an epitome of the East Coast establishment, get along so well? Truman biographer David McCullough explores the question in his insightful introduction, suggesting a consonance of the men's political principles as the basis of their friendship, which deepened, or so it seems from these letters, through their low opinion of Truman's successors, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson. But perhaps the explanation resides in the way they valued candor. After Acheson brutally critiqued the manuscript of Truman's memoir, its author replied: There's nothing worse for a man's character than friends who tell him always how good he is. Valuable to historians, the divulgences in these letters will equally intrigue history readers.--Taylor, Gilbert Copyright 2010 Booklist

David McCullough

Editorial Note	p. vii
Introduction	p. ix
1 February to December 1953	p. 3
A New Outlet for "the Truman-Acheson Front"
2 January 1954 to April 1955	p. 45
Eisenhower's Foreign Policy
Musings on History and Government
Truman's Memoirs
A Serious Operation
The Truman Library
Visits in Kansas City and Washington
Testimony and Tough Political Talk
3 June to August 1955	p. 75
A Blunt Critique of Truman's Memoirs
4 August 1955 to September 1956	p. 123
The Potsdam Papers
"Intellectual Prostitutes"
Margaret Is Married
A Trip to Europe
5 November 1956 to December 1957	p. 153
Foreign-Policy and Civil-Rights Crises
A Meeting in Washington
More Politics
The "S"
6 January 1958 to June 1959	p. 191
Meetings in New Haven, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C.
A Political Season
A President Who Doesn't Know Where He's Going
Three Foreign-Policy Crises
Truman Is "Steamed Up"
A Grand Birthday Celebration
7 June 1959 to November 1960	p. 221
A Candidate for 1960
George Marshall's Death
The U-2 Incident
Sit-Down Strikes
A "Treaty on 'Don'ts'"
John F. Kennedy and the Democratic Convention
The Campaign
8 February 1961 to October 1971	p. 255
JFK and LBJ
An Operation and a Fall
More Memoirs
Deaths in the Family
The Last Letter
Acknowledgments	p. 313
List of Letters	p. 315
Index	p. 325

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Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

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